This research examines the life-cycle water and nutrients usage of microalgae-based biodiesel produc-tion. The influence of water types, operation with and without recycling, algal species, geographic distri-butions are analyzed. The results confirm the competitiveness of microalgae-based biofuels and highlightthe necessity of recycling harvested water and using sea/wastewater as water source. To generate 1 kgbiodiesel, 3726 kg water, 0.33 kg nitrogen, and 0.71 kg phosphate are required if freshwater used withoutrecycling. Recycling harvest water reduces the water and nutrients usage by 84% and 55%. Using sea/wastewater decreases 90% water requirement and eliminates the need of all the nutrients except phos-phate. The variation in microalgae species and geographic distribution are analyzed to reflect microalgaebiofuel development in the US. The impacts of current federal and state renewable energy programs arealso discussed to suggest suitable microalgae biofuel implementation pathways and identify potentialbottlenecks.
Life Cycle Analysis on Biodiesel Production from Microalgae: Water Footprint and Nutrients Balance. Available from:
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/45440017_Life_Cycle_Analysis_on_Biodiesel_Production_from_Microalgae_Water_Footprint_and_Nutrients_Balance [accessed Nov 28, 2016].